"There!" Lloyd pointed to the barren lands below them, wind and sand whipping around a structure designed to look like a giant bull's horn. "The Tomb of the Anacondrai."

"Spooky." Jay noted. "Shall we go pay a visit to our friend Pythor?" Lloyd grimaced, remembering how his naive younger self had truly thought the snake to be a friend.

"Yeah, let's." Lloyd headed back to the bridge, instructing Nya to descend. Ed and Edna were out on the deck, working tirelessly on some new training equipment for the Ninja. Although they'd been told over and over that no payment was necessary, the couple had insisted on 'doing something to thank them for their hospitality'. So, with Jay's help, they were working on replacing the training course that they had used at the monastery before it burned.

The sand whipped around them as they landed in the desert, and Lloyd collected his hoodie, tugging the hood over his head to shield his face from the blinding sand. The Ninja were already suited up in their gis, and Lloyd lead them off of the ship and into the sand.

"Pythor can turn invisible," he warned them as they headed towards the structure. "so be on your guard."

"Roger that." Cold affirmed. "What's the plan if he has escaped?"

"Get out of here as soon as possible. If he gets on the ship, that's a problem." Lloyd's voice was grim. Jay shuddered.

As the group neared the tomb, Lloyd was relieved to see that the door was shut.

"Okay, he's still trapped." Jay spoke up, sounding relieved. "Let's go."

"Wait," Lloyd stopped him. "He's tricky, he could have easily shut the door behind him."

"There are no tracks," Zane gestured around himself. "Whether by feet or tail. And the door is covered in dust."

"It's sand, not dust. And tracks won't last long in this storm." Lloyd pointed out. "Let's just... step in for a moment. And then we can seal it when we leave." The Ninja exchanged glances.

"What if he slips out when we open the door?" Kai asked.

"Good point. Cole, can you block the door? Make sure he can't possibly get through you."

"Sure thing." Cole drew his scythe as he stepped up to the door, a hand resting on it. "Ready?" His brothers nodded in affirmation, and Cole gave the door a push, the barrier giving way to a dark and silent cave.

Shivers wracked Lloyd's form as he peered inside, then slipped under Cole's arm. The sounds of the storm outside were muffled, almost inaudible, the only thing he could hear being his own footsteps - and those of his brothers as they came in behind him.

Sticking close to Zane, Lloyd ventured a little further into the cave. There was no sign of Pythor, he realized, heart sinking into his stomach. Were they too late? Was he already gone?

"I don't think anyone is alive in here." Kai spoke up, his voice low.

"You sure wouldn't think so..." Lloyd mumbled, nudging a pile of bones with his foot. He moved a little further from the group, examining a rock with several, odd markings carved into it. Pythor must have gotten awfully bored in here after eating all his other cellmates.

A cold hand clamped down over Lloyd's mouth, and he let out a muffled shriek as he was lifted off the ground.

"Lloyd!!" Cole shouted, lunging from his post by the door as Pythor dropped invisibility. Lloyd clawed at the hand, kicking, but Pythor gave no indication of even feeling it. Anacondrai were the strongest of the Serpentine, after all.

"My, my." Pythor drawled, giving Lloyd a squeeze where he held him around his waist. "It's one thing for a group of brightly-colored ninja to pay me a visit, but for them to bring a child with them? For shame."

"Let him go, Pythor!!" Zane snapped, as angry as Lloyd had ever seen him. Pythor tsked.

"And you know my name."

"We know a lot about you, Pythor." Kai hissed. "Now let go." Lloyd's struggles were beginning to wane, unable to breathe with Pythor's hand over his mouth and nose.

"We said, let go!!" Jay lunged at the Anacondrai, causing him to hastily slither away. The movement was enough for him to remove his hand from over Lloyd's mouth, choosing to hold him tighter to avoid dropping him instead. Lloyd choked in a breath, resuming his kicking.

"Hold still, you feisty little brat." Pythor scolded. "It's like you don't even know how many bites you would take to eat." Pythor's long neck bent down, twisting around until he and Lloyd were face to face. "It's one, by the way."

"Let go of me!!" Lloyd swung at the snake's face, heart hammering. Pythor wouldn't actually eat him, would he?? No, not while he was being pursued, anyway. Pythor needed him for leverage.

"And who might you be?" Pythor questioned as the Ninja caught back up to him. "The fifth musketeer? Star member of the junior ninja scouts?"

"That's our friend, and you better let him go if you don't want us to give you a beatdown." Jay threatened. Pythor tilted his head, looking up again.

"Or what? Come any closer and I'll simply bite his head off."

"You wouldn't." Cole shot back. He gave Lloyd a look as if to ask would he?? and Lloyd hesitated. He really didn't know.

His best interest in this situation seemed to be to act like an idiot kid - it kept Pythor from eating him last time, anyway. The Anacondrai general could have easily killed him and stolen the map to the Serpentine tombs, but instead he chose to leave him alive. Maybe he had a soft spot for kids. Who knew?

"You let me go right right now!" Lloyd yelled, trying to wriggle free. "When my dad hears about this, you'll be sorry!!"

"Oh?" Pythor gave him a tight squeeze, driving the air from his lungs. "And where is dear daddy to save you now?" Zane reared back with a shuriken, prepared to throw it, but Pythor hissed and brandished his fangs. Lloyd groaned. Being kidnapped was so tiring.

"His father really isn't the kind of enemy you want to make!" Cole yelled. Lloyd winced. What was he doing? "That's the son of Lord Garmadon, the great evil one." Cole continued. "And when he hears that you've threatened his son, well..."

"Garmadon?" Pythor echoed. "Evil one? You don't say. And how, pray tell, is the brat going to tattle on me when I have him in my grasp?"

"We'll tell Lord Garmadon." Jay cut in. "He is our boss, after all." His words earned him a couple of strange looks from his fellow ninja, but they didn't refute his lie.

"Yeah." Kai agreed. "Touch one hair on his son's head, and Lord Garmadon will turn you into a very expensive pair of snakeskin boots."

"This day just keeps on getting stranger and stranger." Pythor commented. "But, very well. I'll let the boy go." Pythor turned, starting to slither towards the exit.

"H-hey, get back here!" Jay shouted, scrambling after him. "You said you'd let Lloyd go!"

"And I will." Pythor didn't falter. "Just as soon as I've gotten a breath of fresh air."

The ninja followed at a distance as Pythor pushed his way through the open door, out into the sandstorm. He let out a deep sigh, slithering a few feet away from the door and stopping there. Lloyd tried to shield his face in his hood, trying to avoid breathing in the sand that whipped around his head.

"Alright." Pythor said with a sigh, watching as the ninja edged out of the tomb behind him. "He's all yours. Toodleoo!" With that, the Anacondrai faded out of sight, and Lloyd was tossed into the sand.

"Lloyd!!" The ninja rushed to check on him, Lloyd coughing as he pushed himself up. He raised his head, searching the sand for any sign of Pythor, and saw the impression of his tail as the General slithered away - in the opposite direction, fortunately, of the ship.

"We gotta get back." Lloyd gasped out, turning to seek out the Destiny's Bounty. "Before he gets the drop on us." The ninja exchanged grim looks, then Cole nodded, grabbing Lloyd's hand and hauling him upright.

"What was that you said about destiny getting around you?" Kai muttered as they hurried back towards the ship. Lloyd just hung his head.

--

"I'm an idiot." Lloyd pressed both hands against his face, slumped over where he sat on the deck. "I shouldn't have- I'm the only reason he's free right now. Now all of Ninjago is in danger."

"Again, destiny seems to pulled one over on us." Wu shook his head. "Do not let it weigh heavy on your heart. It was a mistake."

"A mistake that puts countless people in danger!"

"Hey, but we still have the upper hand." Jay protested, trying to encourage him. "We know what he's going to do next, right?" The ninja gave Lloyd an expectant look, and he blinked, slightly pacified.

"Uh, well... not exactly." He said slowly. "When I freed him in the original timeline... I had with me a map to each Serpentine tomb, which I stole during my time with the Hypnobrai. Pythor stole it from me."

"So he doesn't have the map." Cole said slowly. "What would he do with it?"

"Free the other tribes, unite them all together..." Lloyd shrugged. "He'll find a way to do that, somehow."

"But he'll have to start with the map, right?" Kai pointed out.

"Which the Hypnobrai still have." Zane added.

"And we happen to know exactly where the Hypnobrai are staying." Jay cut in grimly.

"We do." Lloyd agreed. "Looks like we're gonna need to get it first."

"By walking directly into a junkyard filled with snakes that both know us and want to kill us." Cole elaborated.

"Yeah."

"Well, that comes with the job, I guess." Cole stretched, standing up. "C'mon, Jay, let's set a course for Ed and Edna's junkyard."